Laura Munson is the author of the new book The Wild Why: Stories and Teachings to Uncover Your Wonder. Her other books include Willa's Grove. She lives in Whitefish, Montana.
Q: What inspired you to write The Wild Why?
A: As a speaker and writing retreat leader, specializing in self-expression and what gets in the way of it, I have worked with countless people from all over the world.
And there are two things that I hear over and over…and it breaks my heart: I don’t have a voice. And I’m not creative. Of course you have a voice. You’re using it to say that you don’t have a voice. And of course we are creative. Every thought we think, everything we do…it’s all an act of creation.
But many of us have been wounded in some way when it comes to our self-expression. We were told that we weren’t good or right or interesting. We were told that we aren’t creative. That we don’t have a voice. And it’s just not true.
And in so many cases, we took our ball and went home. And we learned to speak in half-truths or clipped sentences: I’m fine, how are you? Enough about me. Long story short.
The Wild Why calls us to find the essence of what it is that we have to say.
We need to stop and tell each other our stories in the voice that only we have. No one can express themselves the way we can. It’s not possible. We have a story. And it matters. And it’s time to put voice to it. Our true voice.
We need to experience the creative beings that we are. Kids aren’t playing in the sandbox wondering about wonder, feeling like they don’t have a voice or that they’re not creative. They ARE wonder.
So one day I was walking in the wood of Montana where I’ve lived for three decades and I thought: the word creativity scares people. What’s behind creativity? And I thought: Wonder. But then I thought: Wonder is a scary word too. What’s behind wonder? And that’s when I landed on curiosity and awe.
The more I roamed around in the woods, the more I felt the need to stop. To sit on a stump and really be in awe. Our society is fine on curiosity. We have a question and we Google for the answer. But what about awe? Awe requires stopping and just being. Receiving. Something that we do as children all the time. But so often lose along the way.
A great example is a rainbow. When we see a rainbow, we wonder about it. But do we stop in awe of it? We know it’s only a few minute phenomena.
So why don’t we stop everything and behold it? Behold the rainbow? Instead of rushing past it, on to the next thing. Or looking at a screen to wonder about what makes a rainbow. Why not just stand there and observe it, in awe?
I don’t think that anyone has ever gotten into trouble for being three minutes late for something because they said, “So sorry. I stopped to behold a rainbow.” In fact, I think they’d get respect, smiles, kudos.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I have spent my adult life sitting at the intersection of heart and mind and craft that is the writing life. But before becoming a writer, I was a seeker. A wonder-er. A student of the human being. A student of wonder itself. I had so many questions. I was highly verbal and sometimes it got me into trouble. That’s when I found the written word.
I talk too much. I ask too many questions. I cry too easily. I laugh too loud.
I’m too sensitive (I’m not sure what that means). And I feel bad about all of it.
—Laura Munson (fourth-grade journal)
So much of my life has been about healing what I call my “wonder wound,” that I spell out in my fourth-grade journal. Finding my way to my true self-expression, despite people’s reactions. Finding the essence of I what I need to, want to, have to say, and not just because I feel that the trajectory needs to land.
Not at all. It’s because I come from a deep place of service. I have devoted the last two decades to helping people find their true self-expression and what gets in the way of it, in my writing, in teaching writing, in editing people’s writing, and in my acclaimed Haven Writing Retreats and Programs.
And a lot of it starts with asking questions. Wild ones. Hence: The Wild Why.
Q: The writer Lee Woodruff said of the book, “The Wild Why is part memoir, part self-exploration, workbook, and tutorial on how we can reach inside and use our own sense of wonder to remove barriers, quiet naysayers, and enrich our lives.” What do you think of that description?
A: I love Lee. She is my soul sister in words and has never lost her wonder, which is why I believe we became immediate friends. Her description of the book is spot on.
While the book is full of story, it’s also part workbook. Workbook for the soul. Not for writers. This book is for seekers who feel that they’ve lost their seeking spirit. I promise: it’s there.
And I offer at each chapter’s end some sort of prompt. Some are writing. Most are about thinking. Wondering. Living in a way that helps you find true connection with yourself.
René Descartes wrote, "It appears to me that wonder is the first of all the passions." The Wild Why makes a case against credentials and for what we know innately…and dearly need to uncover. Our wonder.
The “naysayers” Lee mentions are likely the ones who have succumbed to hustle culture. But I have found that hustle culture doesn’t work. We’re burned out and we need to return to our wonder. Wonder works.
Bullet points and tips and tricks and 10 steps and go go go just don’t work in the end. Story does. Real connection does. Empathy does. Wondering about people and the world. Being in awe of it. Taking time for it.
I don’t have letters after my name in the realm of wonder. You don’t need to be a psychologist to find wonder. It lives in you. Innately. It’s just about uncovering your wonder. A return to something that you already know and have inside you. And that longs to come out.
Q: What impact did writing this book have on you?
A: It took me nine years to write this book because it changed and morphed and became something very surprising to me. The more that I wrote and tuned into wonder, the more I was surprised by how awe came to the forefront of my sense of wonder. Curiosity came second. It started the other way around. I have always asked a lot of questions.
I was shocked by just how many questions were in this book once I gave it my editorial eye. I didn’t mean to do that. I couldn’t believe it: the book was full of one question after the next, deeper and deeper into each question, which then begat another.
I embraced it vs. feeling ashamed for it. I was punished as a child for asking too many questions. I think that’s why I am a writer. Early on, I realized that the only truly safe place for my questions was in my writing.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I like to write in different genres. To me it’s all heart language. Fiction has my heart and I’ve been learning my craft since 1988 when I started my first novel. I have many novels that are publishable, and plenty others that are simply exercises in learning. But I’d like to return to several of my novels that I particularly love, and bring them out into the world.
I also have a book on writing coming out in 2026. The Wild Why isn’t for writers. It’s for all of us. We need our wonder in our worried world. And many want to translate their wonder into writing. That’s why I wrote two books. The Wild Why for everyone. And my book on writing...for word wanderers. And wonderers.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Wonder isn’t a frilly concept. It’s vital for our civilization. Without wonder, how are we to have empathy? And without empathy, how are we to understand each other’s differences?
The Wild Why is not just a radical call to uncover our wonder. It’s a radical call to tap into our essential empathy. I hope it will land in many hearts.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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